Tuesday, November 2, 2010

1:33 PM

Local election officials throughout the state are largely reporting steady turnout as of early this afternoon.

Sue Edman, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, said it's been a "great day" thus far, with sparse phone calls being taken mostly from voters wondering where to cast their ballots. She said only about three or four of the city's ballot machines have experienced problems, and that all poll workers showed up on time for the beginning of the day.

"Everything's really going very, very well for us today," Edman said, noting that turnout in Milwaukee may slightly exceed state projections.

Dane County Clerk Bob Ohlsen said the county has registered 21 percent turnout as of 11 a.m., which he deemed "pretty good." Ohlsen said the county has ordered new ballots for the town of Verona after a machine rejected ballots earlier today.

"We don't know why," Ohlsen said of the technical problems in Verona. He said election officials there told voters to fill in their ballots so they can be hand-counted later today.

The city of Appleton hit 23.5 percent turnout as of noon, reporting no problems "of any significance at all."

"Things are really going well," City Clerk Cindi Hesse said. Hesse added that if usual patterns hold, the city's turnout should be around 70 percent by the time polls close.

Eau Claire City Clerk Donna Austad said turnout has been steady but "nothing overwhelming." She said no polling places that she's visited so far today have experienced any problems.